One Day
by dmails
Summary: Slightly AU story with Okabe meeting Kurisu when they're kids. Expect cute kiddie times and fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: First meeting

Chapter Text

Ikebukuro, 25 minutes outside of the main hub of Tokyo and an even shorter distance from Akihabara, distance didn't matter as the trains ran every 20 minutes or so to meet the demands of those working or heading to the otaku paradise. The wrath of the summer heat was already affecting many travelers or people who had to walk outside, but the heat wasn't stopping a young boy from wearing a gray-ish hoodie outside.

Okabe was waiting by a nearby park for Mayuri, she was busy during the day with her family and the little time she had to herself was spent with Okabe even if all they did was talk about random topics or watch a few episodes of whatever popular dramas were airing. Sometimes they would watch anime but Okabe was never that big of a fan, and if it turned in to a show Mayuri liked he would end up being the test subject for all sorts of outfits as she learned to sew more advanced cosplay under the guidance of her grandmother. He didn't care for it but he always put on a smile and helped her out in anyway that he could, it was one of the few things he could do for her.

At this point Okabe was lost in his thoughts, the bench he was sitting on in the shade so the heat wasn't unbearable but it was still enough to make him want to run inside and stay there until summer was long over. He didn't want to go home; it wasn't that he didn't enjoy staying at his house he just preferred being outside away from his parents before they asked him about school or anything else related to important real world things. His grades were average nothing to write home about, but having a talk about it would just make him feel worse and in the end result in his parents wanting to send him to a cram school in order to improve a meaningless mark that would only show how well he could memorize things from a book. He was far better suited to just being himself even if that was slightly out there for a normal boy of his age.

Another child around the same age was walking near the same park; her hair was short and red-ish. She was wearing an outfit that suited a doll more than a person, but the knee length red skirt and red bow on a white dress shirt fit her perfectly. Her name was Kurisu, she had decided to run off while her father was busy talking to a few people in Ikebukuro about a research project he wanted to do, though he lacked the funds needed to make it happen. As long as she showed up to the train station before her father returned in a few hours it wasn't a big deal; since she hadn't been to Ikebukuro that much it was sort of an adventure for her. Even if the heat was bad she could just visit a nearby store for a little while and buy a drink in order to cool off. Her parents trusted her from an early age so having money on her was nothing new, she knew that it was to be used to buy things just in case she needed them and not just to be spent recklessly on useless things. Going in to a store to get something cold was out of the question right now, it was still early in the day and it would only get hotter in a few hours. The shade would have to do, and the only place with a decent amount of shade was the bench in the park nearby.

Okabe hadn't even noticed that another person was now walking towards him, it was only when someone called out to him that he snapped out of it and faced where the voice was coming from.

"Is anyone else sitting here? I was looking for a place in the shade to sit for awhile and this was the only place nearby that I could find."

Kurisu just smiled as she kindly asked Okabe about the bench being taken. She wanted to make sure she was polite or else it would give off a bad impression.

Okabe was slightly dumbfounded for a moment before he tried to reply. It was the first time someone had really bugged him while he was out and he had been out of it for a bit trying to think about a few things.

"No one else is sitting here, but I'm waiting for a friend. When she gets here I'll need the spot back."

"When is your friend coming if you don't mind me asking?" Kurisu said still putting on a polite front while talking to him.

"Telling you would mean certain death for me, if they found out it would be trouble for everyone."

Within a few seconds Kurisu had dropped her polite act and started to freak out over someone her own age saying such silly things. It was completely out there and weird even if normal kids did act like that from time to time if they watched too much t.v.

"You can cut the daydreams out, no one's really going to go after you in the middle of the day just because you told somewhere about when your friend would get here.

"It's not a day dream it's real" Okabe was getting worked up over a random girl making fun of him, even if it wasn't really making fun of him but more of pointing out the truth behind his words.

"If you want to sit go right ahead just don't ask about when my friend will be here, odds are you'll be gone before then. I'll talk about anything else besides them. "

He was making a big deal over nothing, but he wanted to make sure some random stranger didn't know about Mayuri in case something did happen. Making sure she would stay safe was something Okabe couldn't just ignore.

Kurisu sighed and quickly sat down on the bench. The bench was big enough so them sitting close wasn't going to happen unless one of them chose to do so. Even though they were sitting a normal distance away from each other her face had a slight tint of red on it. It was really the first time she had asked a boy if she could sit nearby even if that wasn't the main reason she wanted the seat.

"Makise… Makise Kurisu" Her face was turning an even brighter tint of red.

"That's my name, now that I'd told you mine tell me yours"

It was only right of her to introduce herself, even if Okabe was being rude about everything. She needed to calm down and go back to being a polite.

"Rintarō Okabe, and telling your name to a stranger will only lead to trouble. Let that be a reminder for you!"

Even though the end statement was pointless since Okabe ended up doing what he said not to do. Okabe was still lightly fired up over all of this; it wasn't good if he kept this up since he didn't want to scare the girl off.

"Never mind the last part" He quickly took it back and tried not to look at Kurisu directly since it would be awkward.

"I wasn't going to bring that up"

At this point Kurisu was taking whatever Okabe said with a grain of salt, sure he was around her age but it didn't mean she had to take everything at face value seeing as he was out there. She needed to switch the subject before it got awkward and the only thing that came to mind was the fact he was wearing a hoodie when it was hot outside. No normal person would do that unless they had a wish involving heat stroke.

"Aren't you warm in that?"

Okabe shrugged before replying, the heat wasn't fazing him that much right now since it was still early, but by the time Mayuri came to meet him he'd be in a pool of his own sweet for sure.

"Not right now, the heat is nothing for me. I can handle days like this without any problems"

That was an outright lie, the heat had the same effects on him as anyone else and it would show when he spent most of the day outside. He didn't have the money to sit inside someplace all day if it was hot out, and he didn't want to ask his parents for any extra cash since they would wonder what he needed it for.

"Such proud words for someone who is already sweeting" Kurisu pointed to his forehead before giving off a small smirk.

Okabe hadn't even noticed that his forehead was now starting to be covered in sweet, it was due to a mix of the heat and being worked up beforehand causing it.

"This won't do me in"

He was starting to get annoyed at this girl and they hadn't even spent more than ten or so minutes talking. He really wanted to know how anyone could put up with her.

Kurisu started to laugh a little at his reply. Sure he was getting annoying but he was acting like a little kid that refused to go anywhere.

"I have an idea, how about you hear me out?"

Of course her idea was simple; if he was warm then they just needed to get something cold to drink. She had passed a vending machine before entering the park and it was a quick trip down the street; it would surely have something cold to drink.

"You have five seconds"

Okabe was kidding but he came off as extremely serious about it instead.

"The vending machine over there would help with the heat"

She pointed down the street where the vending machine was after she had said that. Her reply was short and to the point, even though she thought he could be kidding about the time limit she didn't want to be yelled at if he wasn't joking.

"Oh, and if we go would you be paying for it? You can't expect a random stranger like me to have money on them"

Again he was trying to joke even if it came out as defensive. He did have enough money to buy a can of juice so it wasn't a big deal to him at all. On the other hand he didn't have enough to buy for two people.

"Fine… just follow"

Kurisu slowly got up from her spot on the bench and motioned for Okabe to get up as well. She didn't want to grab his hand and lead him on; it would be weird to just hold hands with someone she just met randomly so just using body language would have to do. He slowly followed and got up from the bench, it would just be easier if only one of them went but saying no and just waiting would be a death flag for him.

The two walked next to each other as they went down the sidewalk, though Kurisu looked down at her feet for the most part. She was slightly embarrassed about walking with a boy she just met even if it was just to grab something to drink from a vending machine. After a few minutes of silence the two reached the machine and started to look at what drinks were available.

"What do you want to drink?" Kurisu asked taking out a small coin purse from her pocket.

"Dk. Pepper, it's the perfect drink when it's hot out"

Okabe was giving off a big smirk as he said that, even laughing a little at the end.

"I've never had it, soda is terrible for you. The amount of sugar and chemicals is what is leading to an increased rate of health problems in our age group."

It was true; it's why her family never really had any of that stuff in the house. The few times she did drink soda happened to be when she was at a family gathering or party. Letting out a small sigh she put in enough money for two drinks and starting to move to the button for Dk. Pepper and the drink she wanted.

"You can't say that without even trying it, once you do you'll take it all back!"

Okabe quickly moved his hand and hit the button for Dk. Pepper twice before Kurisu could even react in time. Sure he was going to get a mouthful from her but insulting a great drink such as Dk. Pepper was a crime within itself.

"Why did you do that? Idiot… I even paid for your drink at least let me get something I want!"

At this point Kurisu completely dropped trying to act polite, she was angry at him for doing that, even if it was just some change and a drink. It was still a waste of money and she didn't want to buy things she didn't need. Okabe shrugged off Kurisu's insult and picked up the two bottles from the drop box and handed her one of them.

"If you don't like it, I'll buy you the drink you rather have"

"Why didn't you just buy your own drink if you had the money?" Kurisu took the bottle from him and just looked at it before planning her next move.

"You didn't say you wouldn't buy it for me"

Okabe opened the bottle and took a sip of it before putting the cap back on. At least 1/3rd of the bottle was now gone after that.

"Just try it before you complain, didn't your mom tell you that you have no right to complain before giving things a shot?"

"Don't bring my mother in to this; I'm sure she's doing a far better job than yours anyway." Kurisu just sighed and slowly opened the bottle of soda.

She just had to try it in order to get Okabe to back off, it wouldn't kill her to have a sip even if knowing what sort of chemicals went in to it make her slightly sick. Putting the bottle to her lips she took a small sip if you could even call it that.

"Told you it was good" Okabe just smiled a little at her reaction, even if it was a mix of someone who looked dumbfounded and sort of happy at the same time.

"You were right, I will give you that." Kurisu took another sip of the soda after saying that and just gave an expression of defeat.

"You can keep your comments; I'm always right when it comes to these matters so it's a waste of energy to say otherwise."

Okabe started to turn around and slowly walk back, he figured that Kurisu would catch on and follow.

"W-wait up" She quickly put the cap back on the bottle of soda and caught up to him.

The two walked back slowly, taking a few sips here and there from their drinks before making it back to the bench that were at beforehand. It was starting to get hotter out even in the shade they were sitting under.

"Don't you have anything else to do?"

Okabe was starting wonder what she was doing out here anyway, someone like her couldn't have just been outside enjoying the weather.

"Not telling, I just need to be back at the station in a little bit"

"You don't live around here do you, are you meeting up with someone later?" Okabe asked before taking another sip out of his drink. "Or are you going to meet with a spy and tell them all of my information, if that's the case I'll have to kill you."

"Shut up, I'm not talking to any spies or people like that, why would I even know people like that?" Kurisu pouted a little bit before taking a sip of her soda. She didn't want to get in to why she was even out here in the first place; it would end up being a long story somehow.

"I live a few stations away, Papa is meeting with people here today and I didn't want to interrupt them."

"That's reasonable I guess, but you could have just stayed home instead though"

Even if Okabe didn't like staying at home all the time it was different if it was a girl by herself outside during the day with no adults around.

"I didn't want to; humans tend to learn things better if they do things first hand. Going someplace I normally don't fall in to that category, even if it's just for a few hours."

She also just wanted to hang around her father for the day even if it turned out like this. She would still get to talk to him later when she went to the station so it was still worth it in her mind.

"What time do you have to be at the station.. if it's before my friend gets here I'll walk you there"

He didn't want to just leave her by herself since the station would be crowded by the afternoon. It was more of a he didn't want to see something bad happen to a girl he just met because he just sat back.

"I have to be at the station in an hour or so. " Even if she could stay out a little later she wanted to be early and get there before her father did.

"I'll take you there then" Okabe wasn't going to take no for an answer at this point and his face showed how serious he was being about it.

"You really don't have to, I can get there by myself, and it'd be bad if Papa saw me with a boy anyway."

Kurisu didn't even want to think about how her father would react if a boy was walking around with her. She always pictured it to be terrible for the other party.

"I'm still going to take you to the station"

After Okabe said that Kurisu's cheeks went red, it was really embarrassing for her. To have someone ignore whatever would happen and just make sure you were ok, it was a lot to take in from somewhere she just met.

"Please don't blame me if anything happens to you then" Kurisu gave him a small smile after saying that. She really didn't want anything to happen to him if they ended up getting there at the same time as her father.

The two spent the next hour talking about random topics, it was mostly t.v shows or other types of things they were interested in. Even though Okabe was dumbfounded at all the science terms Kurisu used he still paid attention and tried to comment on things without looking stupid. He wanted to try and understand her a little bit even if it was confusing for him and hard to wrap his head over complex things.

Noticing the time Okabe got up from the bench and held out his hand for Kurisu, he knew the area like the back of his hand and the short cut to the station was hard to navigate if you didn't know what you were doing. Kurisu started blushing again and got up without taking his hand, they barely knew each other even if they had just talked for over an hour. It was still too soon for her to even think about holding his hand.

"Stay close to me and we'll be at the station in a few minutes"

Okabe started walking at a decent pace, he didn't want Kurisu to fall behind him and get lost. The short cut involved two back alleyways and a dash across a bridge that was filled with people riding bikes most of the time. They managed to get through everything without any problems and made it to the station in no time at all.

"Have a safe trip home Christina" Okabe thought giving her a nickname before she left would make him stand out in her memory at the very least.

"There's no –tina at the end of my name!" Kurisu blushed again and raised her voice a little. It was such an embarrassing nickname to be given. "Maybe if you can remember my name instead of a nickname we'll meet again soon."

"I think I'd enjoy that, if you're ever in the area again just go to the park and I'll be there" Okabe let out a smile even though he knew the chances of them meeting again were slim to none.

It was just a chance meeting, and even if they could meet again he didn't know what station to even go to or even where to look after that. At the very least he was able to help her out a little but even if it was just walking her to the station. He'd at least know he did something right today even if at first he didn't want to do anything.

"Goodbye Kurisu, I'll see you again some day"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reunions

A month had passed since the summer day that brought Okabe and Kurisu together. Okabe had put the whole thing in the back of his mind and kept going on with his daily life. The weather had started to cool down a little but it was still hot out and wouldn't completely cool down for another month or so.

Summer break was nearly over, school would be back in session within the next few weeks and Okabe and Mayuri had already spent a few days together working on homework. Even though they kept taking breaks to eat snacks or watch t.v, the homework managed to get done and checked over by their parents. Outside of that Okabe hadn't been out much, even though he visited the park often the girl he met clearly wasn't going to be around anytime soon, he felt like he had to go there even though he didn't want to because of the promise he made to her.

The only interesting thing that happened was that a family down the street had moved out and someone new was moving in within the next few days. Mayuri was happy about it since it meant more people to meet and hopefully become friends with; Okabe on the other hand didn't care much about it. He barely knew the people who had been in the house before and that would most likely be the case with the family that would move in to replace them as well.

"I wonder what kind of people they'll be? Mayushii hopes they're nice."

Mayuri smiled as she talked to Okabe.

The two of them were in the living room of Okabe's house watching t.v. Okabe didn't care much for what was on but wanted to keep Mayuri in sight in case she went off somewhere without telling him. She was like a ninja in that she could go someplace without anyone noticing until they looked back to talk to her.

"Don't know, but they won't be able to mess with someone like myself."

Okabe laughed after that, he wanted to show off his alter ego but hadn't really figured out any solid persona outside of the laugh bit.

"But why would they mess with you? They might just want to play"

Mayuri changed the channel to something else and then turned off the t.v all together. She was more interested in checking out the new family moving in now.

"Hey hey Okarin, why don't we see if the moving trucks are here now?"

At this point she was getting up from her spot on the floor and holding her hand out to Okabe so he could get up and go with her.

"Fine, but if people are moving things in we will wait until they're done to talk to them ok?"

Okabe took the hand of his dear friend and started heading to where the front door was. They didn't need to grab anything else considering it was just down the street and they could just run back home if they needed to grab anything.

They quickly got their shoes on and went out the front door making sure to yell back in to the hall that they were going out for a bit in case someone wondered where they went off to. The house was right down the street and it only took about three minutes to walk there at a decent pace; if one were to run it would take only a minute or so not even to reach the front yard.

There was one van parked out in front along with a normal car filled with boxes. The movers had started to take out the important things such as beds and other electronics such as a t.v and a few kitchen items. But they wouldn't be done moving all the boxes and other items for another day or so at the rate they were going. This is how Mayuri got the information of "a new family is moving in within a few days", though a few days really meant by late tomorrow at the current rate.

Near the front door were two adults, one man and one female. The man had short black hair and was wearing a nice dress shirt and tie, the women had red almost brown hair that was tied back, and her outfit fit that of a house wife. Beside them was a girl about Okabe's age wearing a dress, she had short red hair. The dress was much like the one the girl Okabe met before had worn only it was in a different color and had a bit more ribbons and flare to it.

"Ahh she looks cute, maybe we can become friends with her?"

Mayuri who was still holding Okabe's hand tried not to point at the girl while she stared. She thought the girl was pretty and instantly wanted to become friends with her no matter what.

Okabe remained quiet, there was no way that girl was the same one he met the other month, she said that she lived in a different area and that her father went to Akihabara for work most of the time. Even though it was only a short train trip it wouldn't be worth moving all the way here. The schools weren't any better than the other cities and travel time was about the same to any part of Tokyo.

He let go of Mayuri's hand and started walking to the front door slowly as if not wanting to be noticed right away.

"Christina?"

Okabe managed to let out a not so loud response since he was afraid it was the wrong person.

The girl turned around after hearing that, she knew that the only person who had tried to call her that was the boy she met before, even if it was just for a brief time.

"There's no –tina!"

Her parents looked around after hearing their child say that and noticed the boy only a few steps away now.

"Kurisu do you know him?"

The women who was clearly her mother asked Kurisu before looking at Okabe again.

"I met him last time I was here Mama, but …"

She turned away after saying that, it wasn't that she was embarrassed in fact she was quite happy to see Okabe again since she thought that being in the area meant that she would get to meet him once again.

"Oh, my my that's a wonderful thing you can see your friend again and since we'll be in the area it means you two can play together a lot more."

Kurisu's mother was overjoyed at the fact Kurisu had managed to make a friend already, it was a problem that Kurisu had before and she had hoped that moving would allow her to make new friends and hopefully get out more instead of always just reading papers her father wrote.

"It's nice to meet you miss, I'm Okabe"

He bowed after saying that, normally he would never be this formal but since Kurisu seemed to be form a family that was well off he didn't want to risk being rude.

"It's rare to see a youngster so polite; Kurisu clearly picked a good boy to be friends with."

Her father at this point had entered in to the conversation and gave Okabe a nod of approval.

"Why don't you go off and play for a little bit? The movers won't be done for a few more hours and it's boring for you to just watch isn't it?"

Kurisu's mother motioned for her to go off and enjoy some time with her friends, which caused Kurisu to blush a little. She hadn't had something like this happen to her before so it was all new to her.

"I'll be back later then"

Kurisu gave a small wave before walking towards Okabe and Mayuri.

"Is this the person you mentioned last time?"

Kurisu assumed it was considering it looked like the two were attached at the hip.

"Tuturu~ I'm Mayushii! Chris-chan was it? I hope we can be friends!"

Mayuri gave a big smile before turning back to Okabe.

"This is Mayuri, she lives near me and…"

Okabe trailed off a little; it was weird talking to someone other than Mayuri even if he hadn't had a problem with Kurisu before when they first met.

"Anyway! We can go to the park; after all I have that promise."

Okabe quickly grabbed Mayuri's hand and motioned for Kurisu to follow.

Of course the promise was the one he made to Kurisu before; it was time to fulfill his end of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Start

It was a dumb promise to keep considering how they ended up meeting each other again, but Okabe wanted to see his end of it through. It would be just a quick stop at the park and then he could show Kurisu the rest of the area and what there was to do around town. Since that's what normal people did when people moved in. Even though Okabe really had no idea how to guide someone around town and explain anything he was mostly hoping that Mayuri could do the explaining park since she found something to do in every part of town.

He was still holding on to Mayuri's hand, a few steps a head walking at a slightly faster than normal pace for no real reason. Kurisu was following behind the two, she didn't really know what to say in fact it was the first time she saw two people her age really be buddy buddy with each other. She never really paid much attention to people at school and due to that she didn't have friends or anyone really around her. Not like it mattered since all she needed with her dad to talk to about theories and other things. This sort of thing was sort of fun at least, it brought a small smile to her face since these two really wanted to talk and get along with her out of their own free will.

"You two are really close"

Kurisu let out a small comment as they reached the park where she first met Okabe.

"I said before, we just live near each other and our parents are friends so.."

Okabe tried not to turn red at what Kurisu said, it was true that they were close but Okabe treated Mayuri as a sister. It was only natural for him to do that considering that she was younger and would space out all the time.

"Aww… but we've been friends for awhile now!"

Mayuri chirped in after Okabe tried to make their friendship seem less important.

"Really? It must be nice considering you two live close to each other. You can just run over and hang out a lot."

There was a little sadness in Kurisu's voice even if she didn't mean it.

"Mm, but now that you're nearby you can do the same thing! Mayushii wouldn't mind at all, and Grandma would love to meet you!"

Mayuri let go of Okabe's hand and grabbed Kurisu's instead. There was a look of pure happiness in her eyes as she looked at Kurisu after mentioning her Grandma.

"I feel like I'd be overstaying my welcome if I did that…"

Kurisu knew it was just a nice gesture on Mayuri's part but just randomly going to someone else's house without calling just seemed really rude.

"It's not a problem, her parents aren't home that much due to work. "

Okabe said the last part like it was no big deal, while her parents were always out her Grandma looked after her so it wasn't a big deal.

"They're doing their best ~"

Mayuri clapped a little while saying that as a mini good job motion.

"So just take Mayuri up on the offer, or will you make her sad?"

Okabe was joking about that last part but it still hit Kurisu like a truck.

"How can you say that? I'm not going to make someone I just met sad! You idiot."

Kurisu was getting slightly worked up over all of this, even if it was just one of Okabe's stupid ticks.

"Mayuri, I'll gladly come over ok?"

"Yay! I can show you my room and we can eat snacks and watch t.v."

Mayuri was over joyed at the idea.

"ANYWAY" Okabe cleared his throat before moving on.

"We have gathered at the park so I can finish my end of the contract that was made before."

"How is a promise now a contract?"

Kurisu quickly said after Okabe mentioned what had happened before.

"It's the same idea! Now that it is finished we should pick a new area to meet up.. one that has not been found out by the organization. "

Okabe was dead serious in his tone, even if it sounded over the top.

"I suggest the store my parents run; I have a secret area in the back that no one can enter without a passcode"

" Isn't that a little too well known? People in the area are going to figure that out."

Kurisu was right, even if the store was small it was still local meaning everyone nearby would know about it.

"That's what makes it the best place, if it's well known then no one will think that there's a secret place behind it."

Okabe's logic was solid, considering in t.v shows the heroes' secret base was often under a local shop that everyone knew about.

"I hate to admit it but you have a decent point."

Kurisu sighed in defeat over the logic behind it.

"Then it's decided, from now on all three of us will meet there. I will tell you the passcode later. For now let us go get something to drink."

Of course something to drink meant going to the vending machine nearby to get Dr. Pepper.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Secret

After the trio had their fill of soda it was time to head to their base, a.k.a Okabe's parents store. Which wasn't that far from his house, it was an outlining building down the street right before the start of the shopping district, while his father wanted to have the house and store in the same building his mother was against it since it would just be a hassle and make their lives harder when they had kids.

Okabe didn't bother holding on to Mayuri's hand this time since there wasn't a need to rush. He just remained silent as he led the two girls down the street that had gone down before that led back to the houses. It was more of a he didn't want others to know about their secret base plans and well he didn't know what else to say so being quiet was better than trying to start some conversation on the way back.

After about 15mins they made it back to the area where all of their houses were at, it wasn't that late in the afternoon but Okabe didn't know what time the two of them needed to be back. Normally Mayuri would leave around dinner time since her Grandma was strict about eating together, but he had no idea what Kurisu's family normally did or what times she had to be back at.

"If you need to go home, do so now."

Okabe motioned at Kurisu who was next to Mayuri.

"I don't have to be back till its dark out, so you don't need to worry for a few more hours."

She didn't have anything else to that, her parents trusted her enough to let her go out till evening as long as it was within the area of the house. She earned it after proving that she was able to handle that sort of thing, though she never really went out after getting home anyway so she never really had to think about that sort of thing.

"Or are you backing out of your little secret base plan already?"

Okabe turned his face away after that little comment, that wasn't the case at all he was just looking out for the girl.

"I'm not backing down; I don't want to get yelled at by your dad if you get home past the time they set."

Okabe tried not to yell, but it came out more concerned and embarrassing then anything else. His face was turning red just at the thought of it being taken the wrong way.

"That's it; it's just a normal thing! Nothing more!"

Mayuri smiled at how Okabe was acting, it was rare for him to be so concerned about others.

"Chris-chan, Okarin never cares this much about others normally! It's really a rare sight!"

"Mayuri! Don't go saying that to people."

Okabe couldn't even face his childhood friend at this point; he was being picked on by two girls and well losing the battle. All he could do was keep saying not to go telling others about how he normally acted.

"I see, so this is one of those acts of boys trying to prove themselves to you right? Papa warned me about this sort of thing."

Kurisu put one of her hands on her hip and just started at Okabe turning redder and redder.

Her father did say to avoid things like this since boys at this age didn't know how to express those types of feelings correctly yet.

"It's nothing like that! You're looking into this too much…"

Okabe's nice thinking has backfired badly.

"Let's just get going, we just need to walk a little more to get to the back entrance"

Okabe huffed a little bit and started quickly walking down the street. He really wasn't in the mood to look back and talk to those two.

"I wouldn't worry too much about this Chris-chan, in a day or two Okarin will forget about it and be back to normal."

Mayuri gave the red head a reassuring tug on the arm before grabbing her hand in order to catch up with Okabe.

After a few minutes of fast walking they made it to the store front, Okabe's parents were inside tending the counter and other shoppers so they didn't notice the trio walk up. Okabe looked back at Kurisu and Mayuri and signaled for them to follow him around the corner.

They ended up walking down the side alley next to the building that housed the trash bins and carts. It was easy to walk through but overall it was a big silly to go this way in order to get into the building. Okabe ended up walking in first clearing things out of the way so Mayuri wouldn't trip and get hurt, plus it had been awhile since he went through the backway so what was normally cleared enough for him to walk through ended up getting piled up with plants and other objects. He waved at the two and gave a thumbs up to say it was clear to walk through.

After moving through the side alley they were in the back of the building, which had one large door that was closed.

"Back doors are locked normally, how are we getting in?"

Kurisu had doubts about this. Considering it was a business it wouldn't be smart to leave the backdoor wide open for people to get in, it was just asking for someone to go in and start wrecking up the place.

"Shh, I have this covered."

From his pocket Okabe took out a key ring that had three keys on it, it was normal for him to carry it around since one was his house key, the other key was to his bike lock and the last was for the store in case he had to help out. His parents trusted him enough with the store key since he wouldn't do much outside of use the backroom while they were working.

The key turned in the lock and the door opened with a click.

"Before we go in, I'm going to tell you two the password. You cannot tell anyone else or you face death."

The death part wasn't true; it was just to scare them.

"The password is El Psy Kongroo, use it whenever we enter the base, got it?"

The two nodded, even though Kurisu was giving a face that screamed "wow this guy is an idiot".

"Alright, follow me."

He motioned for them to follow as he entered the building.

The back of the store was filled with crates and other storage related things, but what they were really after was the room that was in the hall right after they entered. It was small but Okabe had stored games, paper and pencils and every other plaything you could think of there since he wanted his own space his parents wouldn't think of. But really his parents knew they just didn't want to say anything about it since it wasn't hurting anyway.

"This is it, our secret base!"

Okabe proudly said after walking and opening the door to the room.

The room itself was quite clean; there was a small table along with cushions against one of the walls. There were bottled drinks in another area covered by a blanket and the rest of the space had cleaning supplies and other things that didn't belong in the other storage areas.

"I didn't think this was going to be all that nice looking, but I guess I was wrong."

Kurisu had her doubts but the space was clean and well kept. Clearly Okabe cared about the room and wanted to keep it neat and in order.

"There's everything you could ever need here"

Mayuri had already claimed her seat at one of the cushions shortly after they got to the room. She was used to playing there since Okabe took her to the store a lot.

"Anyway! You two, we will now hold our round table conference!"

Okabe put his hands on his hips and put on a face that screamed "there's no way out of this".


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: End of the Day

"What are we even going to talk about? I just moved here today" Kurisu said as she sat down in the spot next to Mayuri. No way in hell was she going to sit right next to Okabe right now.

"See and that's why this is a well needed conference. If you're going to be a member of our group we must know all of your secrets. Even about the birth mark on your butt." That of course was a joke Okabe thought would lighten the mood, but instead it made things worse.

"I don't have anything like that! Don't just say stuff without facts to back them up." Kurisu was trying to keep calm, lashing out now wouldn't be good for their building friendship.

"There isn't much to talk about, we lived further north but Papa has work in Akiba so we moved closer. It was easier on him to move here and we get to spend more time together."

Kurisu sighed a little at the end, it was a very normal reason for why she ended up here. Though now that they were closer to Akiba her dad had planned to put in more work hours to replace his extra travel time that was once a thing.

"Plus, I get to talk to his co-workers sometimes and debate whatever recent scientific event has happened."

She smirked a little bit at the last part, most of the time she won those debates and managed to write papers on why her viewpoint was right. Truly the making of a great scientist at such an early age.

"Debate? Fighting is bad Chris-chan, please don't do that anymore!" Mayuri took Kurisu's hands and looked her right in the eye with a very concerned look.

"Ahh.. It's not really fighting, I swear it's a very peaceful conversation like what we're doing right now."

Okabe was growing a little impatient at the two of them for getting off topic.

"That is a reasonable reply, your family moved and you now enjoy the benefit of it."

He laughed after saying that, really Kurisu seemed like she was a mastermind for figuring out how to make the most of her family moving.

"Why are you laughing about it? It's a perfectly normal thing that happens." Kurisu wasn't having any of it right now.

"Oh it's not at you Christina, it's just your fate merely falling into place."

Again Okabe let out a laugh before quieting down a little.

"Now we know why, let's move on as I mentioned before we need to know much more than your family situation. Name things you like, anime you watch, things Mayuri can make for you!"

He tried to dramatically point but it sort of failed with the last bit of his phrase.

"I like reading research papers, Papa doesn't allow anime in the house and… I can't ask Mayuri to make me anything, I would feel awful considering we just met."

All very standard answers from the red head.

"I don't think we can get those types of things to read.. maybe the library at school would have something?"

Mayuri was very confused at research papers, but she wanted to try and get things Kurisu liked at least.

"They might be too dumbed down for her, I'll look online when I get to use the computer tonight."

Okabe hushed his voice and wiggled over to Mayuri and said everything in her ear so Kurisu wouldn't hear.

"We can fix the second part, Mayuri has a lot of tapes of shows we both like. Though if you haven't watched it before it might be better if we keep you out of it. "

He was being sarcastic about the last part, all they ever watched was super hero or mecha anime that aired in the morning.

The three of them kept chatting away, mostly about other things Kurisu liked, though most of what was said pretty much led back to wanting to do scientific related things. Or eating pudding, which was her favorite food, even though her mom didn't buy it very often because it was unhealthy. Mayuri vowed to fix that and make pudding next time Kurisu came over to her house. After all was said and done it had already been at least two hours since they got to the base and it was close to the time Kurisu needed to get home by.

"With that, we end our round table conference for the day." Okabe clapped his hands after saying that and started to get up from his seat.

"Tomorrow if you can join us again we can show you some more places."

He had a few more secret locations to show off, nothing big or fancy mostly just vending machines that carried different drinks, a used bookshop off the way and a small path to a stream that ran past the park.

"For now, we must return you to your house before we are found out."

Letting out another laugh he held out his hand so Kurisu could use it to help get up. Taking the offer Kurisu got up, brushed off her skirt and smiled a little. This was better than she had hoped, even if both of them were a little silly, it was nice to know two people that were around her age for once.

Mayuri quickly followed and all three of them left the room, making sure to close the door and exit before anyone noticed they had even been there. After a quick walk back to the street their houses fell on Okabe and Mayuri waved goodbye to Kurisu as she walked up the steps to her house.

It was certainly a fun day, and many more would come now that they had another friend. Even more so when the school year would start and vacation would be over.

"The two people I was with today, Okabe and Mayuri they're very nice and.."

Kurisu went on and on about her new friends during dinner with her parents, and down the street the sounds of Okabe and Mayuri saying the same things only about Kurisu could also be heard.


End file.
